Quatrefoil Key Necklace plus SALE

Hi!  Just finished my last final for the quarter.  I'm so happy to be done! (for now)  I'll celebrate by posting my newest Lovelina design:

Garden Luxe Quatrefoil Key Necklace

I've always loved the elegant, simple quatrefoil shape.  Paired with a weathered silver finish, a soft, minty rose, and a genuine Swarovski pearl, I'm so in LOVE!  I'll be wearing this for days.

Also, remember when Katie from Running On Happiness did a Lovelina giveaway?  Well, she has also published an offer code for 10% off your entire order, now until the end of this month.  Just punch in ROH10 at checkout, and you'll get the discount.  :D

Pale Turquoise Waterline

I've been a little obsessed with pastel, cool colors lately...particularly blues.  Pale turquoise is one of my favorites, but I don't use it often because I don't want to play it out.  It's been raining here in the SF Bay Area for a week now...and I decided, what the heck, I need a little color to brighten up these dreary days.  Here's the look:

My inspiration came from the lovely Meredith of Pigments and Palettes:

To create my interpretation, I used my Coastal Scents 88 Original palette.  To start, I apply a shade of pale turquoise halfway across my primed upper eyelid:

Next, I'm going to apply a dark brown shade to the outer corner of my upper eyelid:

Then I'm going to soften the outer crease color with a medium brown shade:

With a soft, white eyeliner pencil, I'm going to line my lower lash line, being sure to line my waterline as well:

Using the same, pale turquoise shade, I'm going to layer over the white liner:

Now I'm going to take my Urban Decay Eyeshadow Pencil in Rehab, and trace outside of my now-turquoise liner:

Then I'm going to layer the medium-brown shadow over the eyeshadow pencil:

To brighten the look and add a little shimmer, I'm going to use my UD Eyeshadow Pencil in Sin and blend along the outer edge of the darker liner:

For added depth, I'm going to apply a little matte black shadow to the outer corners of my top and bottom eyelids:

Now I'm just going to use some black gel/cream eyeliner to sweep a winged line along my upper lash line:

Apply mascara and some false lashes and I'm finished!

Overall look:

Cheeks: ELF Studio Blush in Pink Passion.  Lips: ELF Studio Glossy Gloss in Wild Watermelon.

Not only does the pale turquoise add a pleasant pop of color, it brightens and widens my small, almond-shaped eyes as well.  LOVE!  I can see myself doing this often. :D

Hope you all enjoyed and have a great night!

Hugs,

Cat

UD Chronic for St. Patty's Day

Tutorial time!  When was the last time I had one of these?  Sorry!  Midterms were last week and I can't believe I'm studying for finals this week!  Anyways, remember when I received my Urban Decay mini haul a few weeks ago?  Well, I never got a chance to use my matte eyeshadow in Chronic, which I got on sale for $3.  Here was my chance to test it out AND do a tutorial.  This is what I did with it:

I thought it would perfect for this upcoming St. Patrick's Day!  Chronic is a more earthy, green tea shade.  Being matte, it's a little less flashy for those of us who want a more subdued St. Patty's look as opposed to mimicking a glittery leprechaun (which I think would be rather fun too...maybe another day).  Anywho, to start, I apply some Chronic halfway across my primed upper eyelid:

Next, I take a dark brown shade, here I'm using UD's Darkhorse, and apply it to the outer corner of my upper eyelid:

Then, to soften the outer corner, I blend a shimmery taupe shade along the edges.  Here I'm using UD's Suspect:

With my UD Eyeshadow Pencil in Rehab, I'm going to trace along my bottom lash line:

Then I'm going to layer Darkhorse over Rehab:

To lighten up the look, I'm going to softly blend some Suspect right along the edge of my liner:

With black gel eyeliner, I'm going to trace a winged line along my upper lash line:

Curl lashes, apply mascara, and I'm all set!

Overall look:

Cheeks: ELF Studio Blush in Twinkle Pink.  Lips: UD Lip Junkie in Crush

Hope y'all enjoyed the tutorial and don't forget to get your green on this Saturday!

Hugs,
Cat

Dead Sea Premier Instant Stretching & Revitalizing Mask

Yay!  My full-sized jar of Dead Sea Premier Instant Stretching & Revitalizing Mask came in!  For those of you who have no idea what the big deal is, check out my March MyGlam review.  This was a sample that came with my bag that I liked enough to purchase!

I can't believe that it retails on the Dead Sea Premier website for $150 USD!  There's something seriously wrong with that if I can find the same product on Amazon for $23 USD (shipping included).  I think that the manufacturer severely marks up the price on their website.  I don't believe they really make their money off of retail, rather, they wholesale it at dirt-cheap prices to other retailers who generally charge no more than $50 for this product.  You can kind of tell that the packaging is cheap-looking, but pretending to look expensive.  Regardless, I really like the mask itself and I'm so pleased to be able to get it at a fraction of the price!  Here's a product description from the manufacturer:

"This new treatment successfully combats external evidence of marks and wrinkles...the result is fresh and younger-looking skin."

I don't really have any marks or wrinkles yet, but if it's a preventative, that's great!  I just like it because my skin feels sooooooooo soft after I use it and I really enjoy the scent.  Can't wait to get my mask on tonight! :D

March MyGlam Review Part 2

I guess all that's left for me to review is the MyGlam fluffy eyeshadow brush that came with the March bag.  Here it is:

I took a quick shot of it in action while doing my shadow this morning.  As you can see, it's a little too wide and splayed to be used as a precision crease brush.  It's soft, however, and doesn't shed.  I found that it's best for blending along edges and for adding highlights to my brow arch.

March MyGlam Review Part 1

Good evening!  I got a chance to try a few products from my March MyGlam bag last night so I thought I'd share some of my thoughts on them.

1. Perfect Cleansing Foam by 3LAB

This cleanser is a thick, creamy formula in a pale orange shade with a smattering of micro beads for exfoliation.  There's a faint, but not unpleasant, citrus scent and you don't need much to get a nice, thick lather, about half a dime-sized drop.  The sample is really generous, almost full-sized.  It's going to last me at least a month, I bet.  Personally, I really like it.  It has a clean, but very moisturizing quality to it.  I don't feel like my skin is being stripped dry after cleansing.  This is probably my favorite product of the bunch.

2. Pur-Protect Essential Daily Moisturizer SPF 30 by Pur-Lisse

I personally like high SPF moisturizers because I feel like my skin is getting the best protection from sun damage and UV rays.  As long as it doesn't make me break out, I'm pretty ok with any brand.  Pur-Protect has a slight sunscreen scent, which may be a turn-off to some, but it's to be expected with its high level of protection.  I do feel that it doesn't absorb as quickly or thoroughly as my Olay Complete SPF 30 Defense, so while I don't dislike it, I think I'll just stick to my go-to daily moisturizer.

3.  Color Enhancing Leave-In Treatment by KeraColor

Meh.  I felt that the dual dispensing process was a little bit of a hassle and, unlike my It's A 10, this leave-in product doesn't detangle very well.  My hair doesn't feel as soft and my ends are a little dry, compared to when I use my usual leave-in conditioner.  This one is a miss for me.

4.  Eye Lift Perfector by Murad

This is supposedly a concealer as well as an under eye dark circle and puffiness reducer.  The texture is very similar to tinted moisturizer/bb cream.  I'll show you my step-by-step application process.  Let's see if there's really any difference.

Before

During Application

After

Honestly, I didn't see much of a difference except for my under-eye area seemed to be a little more shiny/shimmery.  Maybe there are light-reflecting agents in the product to create the illusion of reduced dark circles and puffiness?  What really made a difference, I thought, was after I applied pressed powder, check it out:

This trio of images shows, from top to bottom, the progression from before application, after application, and after application of pressed powder on top of product.  What really gives the illusion of perfect skin, here, is the matte, even finish of powder.  Honestly, I think I can get away with bright, wide-awake eyes using a little tinted moisturizer topped with any foundation powder of my choice.  This product just seems like an extra, unnecessary step for me.

Thanks for following along and stay tuned for Part 2.  Sweet dreams!

Hugs,

Cat

Where has Cat been?

Sorry posts have been few and far-in-between.  Last week was midterm week for me and this week I'll be studying for next week's final exams!  Whew!  This quarter system is killing me!  I did get a brief break over the weekend.  I should have been doing style posts, but this was where I was at instead:

Snow has been scarce this season (Just check out that bare mountain up ahead...what kind of winter is that?!) and we thought we'd squeeze in one last weekend of snowboarding before the season ends.  I did pretty well this time around, though I'm still prone to a good spill every now and then.  We got in last night and I'm pretty sore from head to toe today.  I can only lift my right leg about a foot off the floor...hopefully I'll be recovered enough by tomorrow to resume kickboxing lessons.  Lol.